Graphical display systems may be used in real-time applications, such as process control or traffic management, in which a graphical display is being continually, regularly, or intermittently updated.
Flight recorders are used in aircraft to record critical data and events for analysis in an air catastrophe or emergency situation. Such recording capability is also a requirement for major air traffic control (ATC) center upgrade systems. While it is possible simply to record the position and altitude of each aircraft from the radar target extractor, an actual recording of the display images seen by an air traffic control operator may be preferable, as it provides an integrated composite of the airspace.
One approach to recording the display images is simply to use an analog recorder to record the video signals sent to the display. However, a modern ATC display utilizes a 2048×2048 resolution monitor with a refresh rate of 60 Hz. The resultant bandwidth of over 350 MHz precludes the use of a commercially available analog recorder.